Celebrating 125 years

In 1891, the first Royal South Street Society competitions were held and paved the way for future performers around the country to find their vocation and feet on stages both at home and abroad.

Now Australia’s oldest and longest running eisteddfod, it has seen over one million aspiring singers, dancers, orators, writers, musicians and composers pass through its doors – including the likes of Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Joan Kirner, Andrew Olle, Alfred Deakin, Anthony Calleas and many more.

As the Eisteddfod grows, it continues to be one of Ballarat’s major draw cards and contributes over $14 million a year to the local economy through the generous support of the Ballarat community, our sponsors and our 240 volunteers.

125 Celebrations

This year we celebrate 125 years of pure performance gold with a calendar of events to celebrate the extraordinary role Royal South Street has played in shaping our cultural advancement as a nation and providing a unique environment for young people to flourish in the performing arts.

A key part of those celebrations will include our interactive timeline and Royal South Street Society Stories projects, where not only do we capture and showcase our many achievements over the years, but also provide people with an opportunity to explore and share the many remarkable stories of our supporters, participants, families and volunteers.

Our Theme

Our theme, “125 years of pure performance gold’ draws on Ballarat’s rich gold mining heritage when thousands of hopefuls flocked first to find fame and fortune in the ground and then on the stage as the Eisteddfod became the home for new finds and discoveries of a very different nature, contributing to not only our economic but our cultural wealth.

“Ballarat discarded the gold of the earth for the gold of the human mind and voice, and took its place among the cultural cities of the world.” Lyle Blackman,

Did You Know?

Let the Competitions Begin....

In June, 1891 Ballarat saw the event of the year, the first South Street Society Competitions. 260 entrants competed for a moderate prize of 60 guineas (sixty pounds, 60 shillings). Literary, Elocution and Musical items were listed. The Essay competition on “The Most Urgent Social Reforms” was won by Robert Baird, and essays on “The Nobility of Labor: and “Recreation” were both won by Andrew Baird. Fittingly, Baird and McGregor are this year's 125 Celebration Great Debate sponsors. In the Impromptu Speech, Dugald McLachan was successful with the title “Deakin on Federation.” The Competitions ran for 10 days, and was hailed as an overwhelming success.